NASCAR News: Dale Earnhardt Jr. opens up on decision that still annoys him

Dale Earnhardt Jr. has revealed that NASCAR's decision to stop Cup Series racing at Rockingham Speedway still annoys him to this day.

First opened in 1965, the short track in North Carolina has played host to NASCAR racing for many decades, most recently this past weekend, when the O'Reilly Auto Parts and Truck Series were in action.

Those two series returned to Rockingham in 2025 after a long hiatus, but there has been no Cup racing at the track since 2004, when NASCAR pulled the plug.

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Earnhardt Jr. wants Cup racing at Rockingham

Speaking on his Dale Jr. Download podcast, Earnhardt Jr. has now revealed his desire for the Cup Series to end that long run and return to racing at Rockingham, admitting he's still annoyed about NASCAR's 2004 decision.

“There’s still part of me that's kind of annoyed that we left in the first place,” Earnhardt Jr. admitted.

“I don't want to kind of beat this dead horse. I would love for us to go back there.”

NASCAR's ongoing battle

Earnhardt Jr. continued, discussing the ‘battle’ that NASCAR finds itself in, having to deal with balancing racing at its historic, more traditional tracks, with taking new opportunities that have presented themselves in recent years.

“There seems to be a battle, I think, NASCAR is kind of having within itself at the top, executive level,” Earnhardt Jr. added.

“We’ve got this core fan base that loves Rockingham, loves full season points, loves all these things that are very traditional and connected to the history of the sport. But we also have doors opening to us that weren't open before.

“Racing in San Diego is a great example, the Chicago Street course - those were not doors that were open 15 years ago. But now, there's all types of opportunities, cities that are like, ‘Hey, how can we have a NASCAR race?’

“And so NASCAR has all these shiny new things and they look over here and go, ‘Yeah, Rockingham, that's cool. But, you know, we did that’, so they're in a tough spot.

“There ain't enough calendar for all of it. Something has to go.”